We often seek treatments that meet our preferences, and bend them around our personal routines and responsibilities.

This isn’t necessarily a problem. A treatment you don’t (or can’t) follow won’t help you, so the odds are better if you pick one you can.

In addition, not every treatment works for everyone — sometimes the best treatment we have works for just one of 10 people.

These truths came to mind as I recently addressed my plantar fasciitis — an injury to the tissue in the underside of the foot causing heel pain and afflicting about 10 percent of the population. I’d unwisely been trying for about six months to ignore the condition in both my feet. I kept walking to work and standing once I got there (by choice — I have a desk job) despite the discomfort.

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About 10 percent of the population experiences plantar fasciitis, an injury to the underside of the foot that causes heel pain.CreditCreditJanet Worne for The New York Times